Marlins right-hander Edinson Volquez will undergo Tommy John surgery on Friday, president of baseball operations Michael Hill announced to reporters (Twitter link via Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel). This will mark the second Tommy John procedure of Volquez’s career.

Marlins skipper Don Mattingly announced earlier today that Volquez would miss the remainder of the season and suggested that there was more at play than the knee tendinitis that had sidelined him since early July. However, there’d been no indication to this point that Volquez was dealing with any sort of arm injury, making the news of Tommy John surgery a fairly stunning development.

The timing of the injury is especially unfortunate for Volquez, as a fairly standard 12- to 15-month recovery timeline would keep him out of action not only for the balance of the 2017 season but also for most, if not all of the 2018 campaign as well.

Miami inked Volquez to a two-year, $22MM contract this past offseason due largely to his durability. From 2012-16, Volquez averaged 32 starts and 187 innings per season, and he hadn’t even been on the disabled list since his previous Tommy John surgery, which came back in 2009 as a member of the Reds. Volquez is still owed $16.05MM from now through the end of the 2018 campaign — $3.05MM for the remainder of the 2017 season in addition to a $13MM salary next year.

7:32pm: Riddle will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, writes Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He adds that it’s not yet clear what exactly is ending Volquez’s season, but there appears to be more at play than just his knee troubles.

“There’s different issues,” said Mattingly. “I know we’re getting close to talking about it, making sure everybody is on the same page with exactly what’s going to happen.”

Furthermore, Healey reports that the Marlins got bad news on Justin Bour’s strained oblique, as the strain is more severe than originally believed. He’s now at least three weeks out from even beginning baseball activities and won’t return to the lineup until early-to-mid September.

Volquez has been on the disabled list with tendinitis in his knee since early July and was reportedly experiencing discomfort last week. Riddle, meanwhile, was on the shelf with biceps tendinitis, but an MRI revealed a shoulder injury that may require surgical repair, according to Mattingly.

The loss of Volquez is a tough pill for the Marlins to swallow, as the veteran righty had rounded into form after a poor start to his Marlins career and looked to be a potential trade chip — if not in July then certainly in August. Volquez threw a no-hitter against the D-backs in his first start of June, but he’d tossed quality starts in each of his two prior performances and had generally looked like an improved pitcher after a rocky start.

In eight starts prior to hitting the DL, he tossed 45 2/3 innings with 7.5 K/9, 4.7 BB/9 and a 47.9 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 3.55 ERA and 3.70 FIP. His control was clearly still a red flag, but as a typically durable source of innings with a not-unreasonable $11MM annual rate, he could have had value to teams seeking rotation stabilizers for the stretch run (and for the 2018 campaign.

As for Riddle, he was never likely to be moved anywhere, but the injury will deprive the 25-year-old rookie of some vital development time. Miami had already traded Adeiny Hechavarria, paving a path to regular playing time for Riddle, but he’ll now have to wait until Spring Training 2018 to get back on the field and will miss some valuable reps against top-level pitching. Riddle hit just .250/.282/.355 in 247 big league plate appearances, though he’d begun to break out of a lengthy slump at the time he was placed on the DL.

With Riddle out for the remainder of the year, Miguel Rojas will likely see the bulk of time at shortstop. The rotation is less certain, though right-handers Dan Straily and Jose Urena figure to be locks to hold down spots, while left-hander Adam Conley has delivered much better results in his past three starts after a lengthy demotion to Triple-A New Orleans. The pair of injuries will eventually open a pair of roster spots, as both can be moved from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. That could clear the path for someone like Dillon Peters or Trevor Richards to eventually get a look, though that’s simply speculation on my part.

As things stand right now, the Rangers are leaning against dealing star righty Yu Darvish, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. That could still change with an “overwhelming” offer or a total collapse in the standings, he notes. There’s still no clarity in the American League Wild Card picture, and the Rangers remain as plausible a contender as any, so perhaps the smoke surrounding Darvish really has come from an extinguished flame. That storyline promises to be among the most notable of the coming week, not least of which because of interest from the suddenly Clayton Kershaw-less Dodgers. Los Angeles seems to be taking something of a Darvish-or-bust stance with regard to starters, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests in a tweet.

More deadline chatter:

The Brewers are “fading” in the race to acquire Athletics righty Sonny Gray, according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’s not clear whether that’s owing to a change in Milwaukee’s position or the rise of an alternative suitor, but it’s obviously notable. The Brewers seem well-positioned to add a pitcher such as Gray, though perhaps other organizations have greater motivation to boost their near-term product. One such team is the Yankees, who believe they are better than their record, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. That view has helped spur the team’s deadline activity, including its effort to get a starter — with Gray perhaps representing the best fit.

We continue to hear of widespread interest in Phillies reliever Pat Neshek, though it remains unclear just how much he’ll draw in return. A few teams still looking hard at him are the Nationals, Dodgers, and Red Sox, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Those three clubs are among several that seem to be looking over a variety of relief pitchers, of course.

The Mets believe internally that they will end up trading infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, Mike Puma of the New York Post writes in an update on the team’s deadline situation. That seemingly reflects not only the fairly robust demand, but also the team’s assessment of its interest (or lack thereof) in bringing Cabrera back for 2018 through a club option. Aside from Cabrera and top trade piece Addison Reed, the Mets are said to be receiving middling interest in their pending free agents — despite the fact that all are playing rather well. Puma notes that lofty salaries would make all of the team’s other major trade candidates (Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, and Neil Walker) plausible August trade pieces.

In Marlins injury news, the club announced that first baseman Justin Bour left today’s game with an oblique strain, as Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reports. While nothing is official as of yet, skipper Don Mattingly said it’s expected that Bour will require a DL stint. Meanwhile, righty Edinson Volquez did not have an encouraging throwing session today, Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel tweets. As the veteran heads for a second opinion on his ailing knee, it seems that he’ll remain out a while longer. These two players, then, seem quite unlikely to factor into deadline talks — though that was unlikely in any event.

The likeliest scenario at this point is that the Tigers will try to move second baseman Ian Kinsler over the offseason –after exercising his option for 2018 — Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Likewise, the Yankees will probably look to see if there’s a taker for outfielder Jacoby Ellsburgy this winter, Feinsand tweets. That’s not terribly surprising in either case, though surely there’d seem to be greater odds that Kinsler could end up on the move — and indeed he may yet.

The Braves aren’t done looking for a controllable starter after missing on Jose Quintana, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (linkstoTwitter). Atlanta pushed hard for the southpaw, per the report, with the team dangling Ozzie Albies as a headliner — though Passan’s source makes clear that talks never reached an advanced stage. It’s interesting to hear that Albies was offered up, but that was surely a prerequisite to get in the door on Quintana. Whether the intriguing young middle infielder could also be on the block in trade concepts involving other pitchers isn’t clear, but it seems that the Braves are still looking to be aggressive in adding arms for 2018 and beyond.

Here’s more from the NL East:

Mets GM Sandy Alderson acknowledged that his organization will remain in a selling position unless things go “exceedingly well” before the deadline, as Marc Carig of Newsday writes. As the team sits eight games under .500, reaching a realistic position of contention would likely require a prolonged winning streak combined with stumbles from one or more front-running teams. Alderson reiterated that the club will not be looking to do more than cash in some expiring veterans, saying that a trade involving a core veteran would be “exceedingly unlikely.” Alderson also addressed some of his broader roster-building philosophies, including the relative value of defense in player evaluation, which you can read about at the above link.

It seems that righty Edinson Volquez may not be so quick to return to the Marlins rotation as had been hoped. As Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports on Twitter, MRI results on the veteran’s balky left knee showed patellar tendinitis. Skipper Don Mattingly suggested that it doesn’t look to be a significant long-term problem, but Volquez also won’t return from the DL on Sunday. There hasn’t been much suggestion that he’s likely to factor as a trade piece, though the injury further clouds that possibility. Given his hefty salary for 2018 ($13MM), Volquez could also certainly be moved in August.

One Marlins player who very clearly is in demand is right-handed reliever David Phelps, as Spencer also reports. He’s “drawing far more interest” than is closer A.J. Ramos, per the report, with about ten teams inquiring on the former and only two or three asking about the latter. It sounds as if both have a good chance of changing hands, ultimately, but it’s not all that surprising to hear that the steady Phelps is in greater demand. Indeed, he could even be seen as a possible rotation candidate for 2018 by some organizations that would be interested in adding him to their pen down the stretch.

Braves righty Arodys Vizcaino could well factor in trade talks as well. He’s throwing off a mound today and seemingly won’t be far off from a return, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). It had been a bit unclear just when he’d return, but it seems as if the talented — if somewhat enigmatic — reliever ought to have plenty of time to display his form for possible suitors. Veteran right-hander Jason Motte, though, may be headed in the other direction. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Motte is heading to the DL with a back strain. He may have held some interest to contenders, though his peripherals lagged his results in Atlanta (and the ERA had begun to creep northward anyway).

Yoan Moncada sits atop both the midseason top 100 prospect rankings from Baseball America and the top 50 list from Baseball Prospectus. The two lists have different methodologies in compiling the rankings (for instance, BA includes 2017 draft picks while BP doesn’t) but obviously are in agreement about the value of several top minor leaguers, with Moncada as the consensus choice. The White Sox prospect has a very solid but not dominant .282/.380/.451 slash line over 334 plate appearances at Triple-A this season, and with 93 strikeouts on his record, plate discipline is still something of a question mark. Of course, Moncada struck out in 12 of his 20 big league plate appearances last season during his first taste of MLB action. Though the White Sox have been somewhat non-committal about when Moncada will get called up, the 22-year-old is likely to make his debut in a White Sox uniform at some point late this season.

Here’s some more from around baseball…

Jay Bruce’s contract contains partial no-trade protection against eight teams, and the octet on Bruce’s list hasn’t changed since the offseason, James Wagner of the New York Times writes. The eight teams in question are the Athletics, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Phillies, Rays, Twins, and Yankees. The Mets outfielder isn’t likely to be targeted by many of those teams anyway, be it for financial reasons, fit reasons or because at least three of those clubs are looking like deadline sellers themselves.

Also from Sherman’s piece, the Marlins have gotten “a few nibbles” on Edinson Volquez and Brad Ziegler. Miami appears to be concentrating on dealing relievers and veterans under multi-year contracts like Volquez and Ziegler, and the club’s biggest names seem to be staying put for now, though “the situation is fluid,” according to both Marlins officials and officials on rival teams. Sherman includes right-hander Dan Straily on the list of Miami’s untouchable-for-now core players, which makes sense given that Straily is enjoying a strong season and is controllable for three more seasons. The Marlins are scouting over 20 different farm systems for potential trade pieces.

It’s unclear if Padres righty Jered Weaver will ever pitch again, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. If Weaver does resume his career, Lin doesn’t expect it to happen in San Diego (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Weaver, who has been on the disabled list with left hip inflammation in late May, is working on his health in San Diego, according to manager Andy Green. The club has given Weaver “latitude to explore some things,” and there’s no timetable for his return, per Green. Before Weaver landed on the shelf, the former Angels ace recorded unsightly numbers (7.44 ERA, 7.99 FIP) over nine starts and 42 1/3 innings.

The Marlins announced yesterday that right-hander Edinson Volquez was placed on the 10-day DL with left knee tendinitis. Recent reports have stated that Volquez’s knee issue isn’t very serious, and the placement appears designed mostly to extend his rest while keeping an extra player on hand — four of Volquez’s minimum 10 days will be taken up by the All-Star break, of course. In a big-picture sense, the Marlins may want to ensure that Volquez is healthy and fully rested to put on a few more showcase outings before rivals decide whether to pursue him at the trade deadline.

Here’s more from around the NL East…

The Mets were “stunned” by Bartolo Colon’s decision to sign with the Twins, a team source tells Mike Puma of the New York Post. The club believed that Colon’s recent history with the Mets and the fact that he still owns a home in New Jersey would give them the edge in the hunt for the veteran right-hander, though Colon chose a minor league deal with Minnesota over the Mets and at least a couple of other suitors.

Also from Puma’s piece, he notes that Mets closer Jeurys Familia will initiate a throwing program during the All-Star break. Familia underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his throwing shoulder in mid-May and was originally projected to begin throwing six weeks after that procedure. Despite being slightly behind that timeframe, Familiar is still hopeful of returning to action before the season is over.

Zack Wheeler apparently won’t face any innings restrictions during the second half of the season, a source tells Newsday’s Marc Carig. Wheeler is on pace for roughly 140 innings after missing all of 2015-16 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he got off to a strong start to the season before getting rocked for 15 runs in 3 2/3 IP over consecutive starts in June. Wheeler went on the DL with biceps tendinitis and then lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his return start, so clearly his health will remain some concern to the Mets, even if Wheeler isn’t being put on an innings limit.

The Braves have placed utilityman Danny Santana on the 10-day DL with a bacterial infection on his calf, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Further tests are required to indicate whether or not Santana has a staph infection. Atlanta acquired Santana from the Twins in May, and he has hit .230/.287/.402 in 94 PA for the Braves, though he has recently performed better at the plate after a slow start. Santana has also provided the Braves with some useful versatility, starting games at second base, third base and all three outfield spots.

With the team set to be sold at some point in the near future, the Marlins appear to be lining up for some significant moves at the deadline. As Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports, the Fish appear to be targeting a few organizations in particular as they look to shop their biggest contracts. Marlins scouts are taking a hard look at the systems of the Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Rockies, and Cubs, per the report. Whether that’s based upon demand coming from those organizations or instead Miami’s own interest in certain prospects isn’t entirely clear; obviously, plenty of other teams will likely end up engaging with the Marlins in what is shaping up to be an interesting deadline period.

Miami is not concerned about righty Edinson Volquez, Spencer also notes. Though he experienced left-knee discomfort in his most recent start, skipper Don Mattingly suggested the veteran will be ready to go after the All-Star break. He could well be one of the players dangled in trade talks over the next few weeks.

The less-than-straightforward Marlins sale process remains in flux as the organization prepares to host the All-Star Game. Bidding groups led by Tagg Romney, on the one hand, and Derek Jeter, on the other, have each run into issues, according to a report from Claire Atinson, Ken Davidoff, and Josh Kosman of the New York Post. In fact, the Romney group may even have pulled out of the process altogether, per the report. Jeter’s group, meanwhile, no longer has the backing of one key investor. That could place a third bidder, Jorge Mas, in position to make a deal. But it’s also possible that Jeter could try to “convince MLB to push back a decision date … possibly to the end of the season in October,” sources tell the Post.

Mas has attempted to get the Marlins to agree to an exclusive negotiating window, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, but that has yet to occur. Still, the report suggests, the process could be only weeks away from completion. While Mas is said to be in the driver’s seat, Heyman hears that the Romney-led group may still be involved.

The Yankees are 35-23 and atop the AL East, but both GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi are currently lame ducks, notes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cashman isn’t worried about his contract status, telling Cafardo: “I’ve been to this point a few times now. It’s just not unusual. It’s not something you can spend a lot of time thinking about. When the time comes, hopefully things will be taken care of, but it’s not something I talk a lot about.” Cashman, in his 20th year as the Yankees’ GM, is likely underpaid, writes Cafardo. The same goes for Girardi, who has been in his position since 2008. Both make around $4MM per year, which Cafardo points out is a far cry from the salaries of contemporaries such as Cubs president Theo Epstein ($10MM), manager Joe Maddon ($7MM) and Dodgers president Andrew Friedman ($7MM).

Now for the latest pitching-related rumblings from Cafardo:

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas and Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray are the hurlers who are most asked about in trade discussions (in that order), reports Cafardo. While Vargas is a soft-tossing 34-year-old with below-average strikeout and ground-ball rates (7.14 and 37.0, respectively), he’s only walking 2.06 batters per nine and his run prevention hasn’t shown signs of wavering this season. Vargas’ ERA is currently at 2.18 through 74 1/3 frames and hasn’t gone over 2.39. Unlike Vargas, who will be a free agent next winter, Gray comes with multiple years of team control. He’s on a more-than-reasonable $3.575MM salary this year and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2019 season. The 27-year-old Gray hasn’t prevented runs to the extent that he did from 2013-15 (2.88 ERA in 491 frames), but he has rebounded from a dreadful 2016 to log a 4.37 ERA, 8.94 K/9, 2.66 BB/9 and a 56.7 percent grounder rate over 47 1/3 innings. Also, his 3.35 FIP is right in line with the 3.36 mark he registered from 2013-15.

The Yankees are leaving the door open for southpaw C.C. Sabathia’s return in 2018, according to Cafardo. A free agent in the offseason, Sabathia’s next deal certainly won’t come anywhere close to his expiring five-year, $122MM contract. Still, the erstwhile ace is making a case for a decent payday at the age of 36. Across 71 1/3 innings this year, the soft contact-inducing Sabathia has recorded a 3.66 ERA, 7.32 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Righty Alex Cobb is the Rays starter most likely to end up on the move by the trade deadline, relays Cafardo. The 29-year-old hasn’t been as stingy as he was prior to 2015, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, but has given the Rays 79 2/3 innings of 4.29 ERA ball (with a matching FIP) this year. Along the way, the impending free agent – who’s on a $4.2MM salary – has somewhat offset a low K/9 (6.44) with a quality BB/9 (2.6) and generated grounders at a 43.9 percent clip.

If the Marlins go into fire-sale mode, righty Edinson Volquez could draw interest, suggests Cafardo. The offseason signing has been lights out recently, especially during his 11-strikeout no-hitter last Saturday, and has dropped his ERA nearly a run and a half over the past three weeks (from 4.87 on May 18 to 3.41). Volquez, 33, has helped his cause by pairing his best K/9 in five years (8.52) with a 48.6 percent ground-ball rate, though his BB/9 (4.59) is also at its highest since 2012. An acquiring team would take on the remainder of Volquez’s $9MM salary this year and another $13MM in 2018.

Marlins right-hander Edinson Volquez threw the first no-hitter of the 2017 season on Saturday, tossing a 10-strikeout, two-walk gem against the Diamondbacks en route to a 3-0 victory. He accomplished the feat on what would have been the 26th birthday of late Royals righty Yordano Ventura, who passed away in a car crash in the Dominican Republic over the winter. Volquez, also a native of the Dominican, was friends with Ventura and teammates with him in Kansas City from 2015-16. Volquez paid tribute to Ventura on Instagram prior to the game and dedicated the performance to both Ventura and late Marlins ace Jose Fernandez afterward (Twitter link via Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star).

More from Miami and two other NL cities:

Although Padres righty Jered Weaver has been among the majors’ worst starters this season, the club isn’t ready to give up on the soft-tossing 34-year-old, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres’ hope is that Weaver will be able to competently eat innings when he’s ready to return from the disabled list. Weaver hit the DL on May 20 with left hip inflammation, a condition the ex-Angel says has been dealing with “for three or four years now.” Before landing on the shelf, Weaver recorded a 7.44 ERA and a 7.99 FIP over nine starts – all Padres losses – and 42 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals are candidates to add Cuban righty Hector Mendoza, who’s eligible to sign with a major league organization July 2, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required and recommended). The 23-year-old Mendoza is exempt from bonus pools, meaning the Cardinals won’t have to pay an overage tax if they sign him, notes Badler. Mendoza, who has pitched in both Cuba and Japan, features “a three-pitch starter’s mix,” per Badler, though he’s likely to end up in the bullpen if he cracks the majors.

Marlins reliever Junichi Tazawa’s recovery from the rib issue that has sidelined him since mid-May hit an unusual snag, relays Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Japanese righty’s interpreter quit, thereby delaying his rehab assignment as the Marlins looked for a replacement. The club didn’t want to Tazawa to go it alone in Jupiter, Fla., “and potentially get lost or confused,” writes Jackson.

The Red Sox have struggled at third base this year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. The team planned to have Pablo Sandoval as their main third baseman, a dicey proposition since Sandoval missed most of last season. The team has since lost Sandoval, Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez to injury, forcing Josh Rutledge into duty at the hot corner. Red Sox third baseman have struggled to the tune of a .237/.286/.320 line this season. Holt (vertigo) is on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Pawtucket, though, and could soon to the big leagues, as WEEI’s Rob Bradford tweets. Here’s more from the East divisions.

The Marlins have announced that they’ve reinstated righty Edinson Volquez from the 10-day DL and optioned fellow righty Brian Ellington to Triple-A New Orleans. Volquez will start tonight against the Braves. Volquez spent the minimum required time on the DL while dealing with a blister issue. He’s posted a 4.71 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 6.9 BB/9 in 28 2/3 innings thus far this season for Miami.

The Yankees’ three-game losing streak at the hands of the Reds and Astros raises a number of questions about the team, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. CC Sabathia has struggled lately, Chris Carter hasn’t hit well in place of the injured Greg Bird at first base, and the team is relying heavily on young players. Of course, as Sherman points out, it was never realistic to hope that the Yankees would sustain the blistering 21-9 pace at which they began the season.

The injury-riddled Mets could use relief help, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. Jeurys Familia’s injury is just the latest for a Mets team that has had more than its fair share, and the team doesn’t have reinforcements on the way from Triple-A. Ackert mentions White Sox closer David Robertson as a potential possibility, but notes that Robertson can block a potential trade to the Mets as part of his limited no-trade clause. Besides, as she points out, significant trades rarely happen this early in the season.